


Alone at Sea: The prologue

by KuroXan



Series: Alone at Sea [1]
Category: South Park
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Never Met, Fluff, M/M, Modern Fantasy AU, Siren Craig, Strangers to freinds, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, happy boys, they're on a boat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-06 02:27:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17931080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KuroXan/pseuds/KuroXan
Summary: Tweek was stuck on a boat again, his parents always spend the single week they have off work to sail on a boat into the middle of nowhere. But his parents were too high to look after their son. He was tired and bored until he met a siren with eyes like the stars.





	Alone at Sea: The prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much @OrangeTree for Beta reading this one shot! Check out their work, it's hella good!

I was stuck on a boat again, my parents always spend the single week we have off work to sail on a boat into the middle of nowhere. I didn’t even understand why they forced me to come every year; maybe they didn’t want to waste the money they used to buy the stupid thing. They don’t even do anything, they sleep through most of the trips leaving me alone. And when I mean sleeping, I mean passed out from too much potion fumes.

Well, I wasn’t entirely alone. I have a pet guinea pig named Stripe to keep me company. We were both bored out of our minds since my parents never seem to think about leaving us anything to entertain ourselves with.  I was used to that kind of neglect. You’d think that they would at least leave their eight year old son a stick for any kind of mental stimulation.

I was extremely tired but I struggled to get some sleep. I’ve been exposed to high doses of magic at a young age so now I’m stuck twitching constantly. It got better as I’ve gotten older, but as an eight year old, I struggled to sleep more than an hour.

It was on the fourth day of constantly staring at the ocean, sitting on the edge of the boat, with my legs in the water when something finally happened. I was counting waves when I noticed something black in the water heading towards the boat. It looked like a bundle of seaweed as it drifted closer. I observed it until it got close enough to the boat that I could touch it, I was going to until I felt something grab my ankles.

“Oh Jesus!” I shriek as I tried to yank my legs free but the grip on them was too strong. My body was going into panic mode as adrenaline coursed through my blood. I tugged at my hair to try to ground myself so I wouldn’t go into a full blown panic attack. I was about to start screaming again, maybe my parents would actually come to help me but the earlier presumed seaweed surfaced.

The seaweed turned out to be hair and it belonged to a boy around my age. The boy’s face was pale, even paler than me, my skin easily burnt under the sun. Our eyes met, his were dark blue, the colour I’d imagine the deep ocean would look like.

"You have a piggy." He observed. His dark eyes were on something behind me with a soft curiosity.

There were a lot of things I thought he would say, that wasn’t one of them. It took me a moment to even process this statement when the gears in my head finally started working. I then realized he was talking about Stripe, who was currently napping in his log hide a meter behind where I was sitting.

“I do, his name is Stripe!” I exclaimed as my left eye twitched violently. The irises of the boy’s eyes started to fill with white sparkles, they looked like stars against the dark blue colouring. That obviously wasn’t what normal eyes did, so clearly he wasn’t human. Then again, we were in the middle of the ocean. Normal boys weren't just hanging out with a boat in the middle of the water like this.

“C-Can I see?” He stuttered his words from pure excitement. He made his way closer to the boat but I still couldn’t make out anything beyond the boy’s shoulders. His lower half hidden in the deep water.

“Sure, but I can’t let you hold him in the water." Stripe can’t swim so I couldn’t risk the boy dropping him. He was the only thing keeping me sane while I worked at my parent’s crappy potion store. He’s the only thing that makes sense in there. I think all the potion fumes have messed with my parents' heads

The boy wasn't responding at first, he remained still as he stared down at the water. “Okay.” He answered before pushing against the edge of the boat for leverage as he climbed out of the water. That’s when I saw it, the boy’s tail. It was covered in dark blue and purple scales with a few yellow ones scattered around, his fins were the same yellow colour. It looked like the night sky, I was in total awe.

I should have anticipated a tail since they were miles away from land but sirens and mermaids were nearly extinct. There were only around a hundred left, that was the estimated number at best. They were also known to be extremely secretive and would rather stay secluded after the mass killing. To my surprise though, here he was, sitting next to me looking around for Stripe.

Apparently, sirens and mermaids feed on humans and other nonhumans, which is what led to the mass killings. I had no idea whether or not it was true, but this kid seemed harmless enough. I was confident that I could protect Stripe if the boy decided that he wanted to take a bite out of him.

I picked up his hiding spot and found the groggy Stripe, “Sorry buddy.” I cradled the small creature in my arms and made my way back to the other boy. I was so concentrated on the boy’s tail, that I didn’t notice something just as fucking jaw dropping. There were markings all over the boy’s back that resembled constellations. I also noticed that his tail was replaced with two legs. They looked almost human except there were a few patches of scales. They on the sides of his upper legs, his knees and his ankles.

In hindsight, I should have been embarrassed that the other boy was not hiding what was between his legs, but since I was eight, I just threw a towel over to him. He took the hint and covered up. I placed Stripe onto the boy’s hands. Who stared at Stripe with awe, he was probably the first guinea pig he’s ever met. There were so many lights in his eyes, they looked bright blue. I took this opportunity to learn more about the boy, unsure if he’d even respond. “What are you?” I peered over at him.

“I’m a siren."  He didn’t hesitate to answer my question. His voice wasn’t what I was expecting, it was soothing all though a bit nasally. Stripe seemed to have taken a liking to him as he lazily accepted head rubs from the siren. He looked up at me with a grin on his face, his teeth were sharp and jagged. “What about you?”

“I’m human. My dad is a witch but my mom is human. They can’t produce hybrids so I’m entirely human. “Just like most of the world. It’s was a good thing I wasn’t born a witch, if I was, I know my dad would take advantage of that. I carried on the conversation with another question. “What are those constellations on your back?”

The siren hummed to himself, “It’s based on the constellations viewable from where I was born. It’s a birth mark, I think”. I never heard about that before, I knew next to nothing about his species. “My name is Craig by the way”

“Oh shit! Yeah, I’m Tweek Tweak! I probably should have introduced myself earlier.” I started to twitch again. I was struggling to keep my left arm still so I had to hold it down. Craig looked up but didn’t comment. “Gah!”

“You’re the first person I’ve ever talked to” He didn’t seemed bothered by twitching but since I was the only person he’s ever talked to, maybe he thought it was normal. Most people back at South Park thought I was crazy or something, I’m called a troublemaker in my class.

“Why did you talk to me?” I asked, I definitely wouldn’t approach people if I was in his position. Not with how gory the descriptions of siren killings were.

“It’s lonely”, he said it so softy that I nearly didn’t hear him. He turned his head and looked at the calm waters around them. The sparks left his eyes, leaving the deep bottomless blue colour. “You’re the first person I’ve ever talked to, human, nonhuman or siren”

“Don’t you have a family?”, I wanted to take back what I said when I saw his frown. God, I was so stupid. This is probably why people thought I was a trouble maker since I can’t control what I say. Craig must have notice that I was starting to freak out since he placed his hand on mine.

“I never met my dad and my mom left just before I learnt to talk. Repopulating is the most important thing right now or something like that,” Craig explained. So, he’s been by himself the entire time, no wonder he was lonely. At least I had Stripe and the gang back home.

“I should be floating around for a few more days. You can play with me and Stripe until my parents take us back”, considering they only woke up three times during the whole four days then I’d probably stay for the entire week.

A few sparks made their way back into his eyes. I was a bit worried he’d wake up Stripe but luckily he didn’t. He tangled his fingers with mine and squeezed it, he was smiling happily to himself, “Really?”

“Yeah, You’re pretty cool”, I commented as I laid down, letting my feet dip into the water. I was surprised when Craig laid next to me.

“Nah man, I’m simple and boring.” I glanced over at him, he was staring back. I normally didn’t like when people stared at me but with Craig it was actually rather comforting.

“I think you’re interesting”, I muttered back which earned a hearty chuckle from the siren. He covered his mouth as he started snorting, trying not to wake the guinea pig sleeping on his chest. His eyes were even brighter than when he first held Stripe.

“I appreciate the nice words but I don’t mind being simple and boring, I can handle being alone. I was built to live my whole life by myself but I do like the company”, He said when he finally settled down from his laughing fit. He had a nice laugh, it made him sound like the kid he really was, rather than a survivor of a dying race.

I would have believed his words if I hadn’t seen his eyes before. They were incredible, they could look as bright and expansive as the universe above them but also as deep and lonely as the ocean below them.

“How do you know so much if you’ve never spoken to anyone before?”, I wondered out loud.

“I got information transferred from my mom. I know that I need to avoid people, I know that my people were killed by nonsirens, I know my mom was a woman, I know how to speak, I know how to hunt for myself and that there was something called a piggy”, Craig listed.

“I think she had some information wrong. Stripe is a guinea pig”, I couldn’t stop myself from laughing, I didn’t even stop as my stomach started to twitch. I laughed through all the twitching. Craig joined in with some of his own light chuckles.

Since Craig didn’t know much about the world, I took it upon myself to inform him of everything. I told him about my school and how it was a mixed school for both humans and nonhumans. Craig didn’t like the idea of school, he said that it sounded boring and he didn’t like the idea of being around so many people.

I also told him about the potion shop, it was founded by my granddad who was a witch and he passed it onto my dad. The potions they made were always weak at whatever the customer requests but were always laced with too much magic or illegal ingredients which was probably why my parents were messed up.

Since I didn’t know much about sirens, Craig enlightened me. He informed me that most of his powers won’t develop until he hits puberty, the most he could do currently was move about a cup of water very slowly. When he’s older he’ll have stronger control of water and his voice will change so that it’d be laced with magic.

I asked him about eating humans and nonhumans, I know it was rude but I really wanted to know. Craig didn’t look offended when he answered me.

“I mean, I could eat nonsirens but there’s really no point when I could just eat a fish. I don’t even think that many sirens even did do those kinds of hunts, from what I know it was just a few individual groups”, it was pretty similar story to witches except the siren hunts happened just fifty years ago and they were still going on while witch hunts stopped hundreds of years ago. Witches could also easily pretend to be human.

“Can you hide your scales?” I looked at him curiously. I was intrigued by this creature who seemed so human. There was charm in his naivety, how excited a pet guinea pig made him.

Craig looked down at his scales before peeking back up at me, “No." He told me simply. They had a sheen to them which were reminiscent of polished glass rather than fish scales. They reflected the light of the setting sun pleasantly.

I let go of his hand, we were connected for so long, I felt a sense of loss to separate from him.  I went into the boat without another word and returned with some clothes. I couldn’t risk my dad waking up and trying to turn Craig into an ingredient for his potions. I picked up Stripe before returning him to his log hide. I dropped the clothes onto his lap.

He put on the shirt easily enough but he didn’t move to put on the pyjama bottoms. I was about to question him when I realised he hadn’t used his legs the entire time. “Do you need help?” I offered a hand though it was twitching a bit.

“Yes please.” he took the offered hand and tried to pull himself up but his legs were like jelly. It was like he didn’t have a single muscle in them. It took me putting my arms under his for support and pulling him up to get him onto his feet. He was struggling to stay standing but he was up. Luckily I was stronger than I looked and he was rather thin.

“First time?”I snickered. I was expecting him to glare back but instead his face went red with embarrassment.

“Sort of yes."He snorted. He fumbled for a while as he tried to get the bottoms on. I let Craig back down and he was happy to be off his legs. He curiously tugged at the pyjamas. “They’re soft.” He beamed up at me.

“It’s getting late, let’s eat and go to sleep."  I suggested and Craig nodded in response. I helped Craig up, he was trying his best to lift his own weight but his legs just weren’t agreeing. I stopped walking when we were about to enter the boat. “We’re going to eat now, meet us inside when you’re ready." Striped seemed to squeak in response.

“Woah! You didn’t tell me that he can understand us!”  Craig’s voice was filled with astonishment as we entered the boat. His legs were becoming less wobbly, but he was in no way ready to walk on his own.

“Most can’t but Stripe is bonded to me so he’s smarter than a normal one. Guess that’s one benefit to having a witch as a dad.” I had to force my dad by threatening not to work but Craig didn’t need to know that. I lowered Craig into a seat before leaving to look for food. We didn’t have much, I managed to make a few sandwiches with the little food we packed.

When I returned, Craig eyed the food curiously. I handed him the sandwich on a plate, he poked at it which I found unbelievably funny. “It’s dry” He commented. He observed me take a bite before taking his own experimental one. “But it’s good” He added.

“You really are simple and boring, of course you’d like a boring ham sandwich” I joked. Craig flashed his sharp teeth at me before easily cutting into his food. I passed him a bottle of water, he eyed it suspiciously. He was hesitant to touch it as he watched me take a drink of my own.

“I hate plastic, I nearly choked on a plastic bag when I was younger. " He started. He was still peering at the plastic bottle suspiciously. "It was before I received all my survival memories from my mom.” Despite what Craig said, he mimicked the way I opened my bottle and tried to take a drink, but his teeth bit the lip of the top clean off. He spat out the plastic. We both looked at each other before bursting into laughter. By the time we were finished Craig’s cheeks were flushed red, so was his neck and ears. I must have been equally as red as when Craig looked at me again he chuckled a bit more.

“I’ll make sure to get these recycled so you don’t need to worry about that.” Craig nodded in response. He looked like he was getting tired, his eyelids kept drooping slightly. It was entertaining to watch but the idea of carrying deadweight wasn’t. “Want to go to sleep in my bed?” Craig nodded.

I helped him up again, the walk to my room wasn’t as much as a struggle as getting to the kitchen. Craig flopped onto my bed with a lack of grace and elegance a siren should have. He spread himself out, trying to get as much surface area of the bed against his body as he could. “So soft.” He commented.

I shoved him over to make space for myself, he grumbled at the rough treatment and shifted to free up some room. He nestled up to my side and wrapped his thin arms around me, burrowing his face against the side of my neck. "You're really soft too." I heard him murmur.

Craig was probably a bit taller than me but he was far slimmer than my pudgier frame, it made him feel smaller in my arms. It didn’t take long for the siren to start softly snoring in against me and it didn’t take much longer to fall asleep myself, his soft breathing lulled me into deep slumber.

When I woke up I was surprised to find the siren was still asleep in my arms, I honestly thought it was a dream. I looked at the clock to find that we slept through the entire night, I peeked out of window and was entranced by the sight of the rising sun. I decided to make us hot chocolate and Stripe joined me in the kitchen.

When I returned Craig was still asleep, so I entertained myself with Stripe. We stopped playing when Stripe started begging for treats, “I know you can’t die but you’re going to get fat if you keep begging." I chastised. I was in the middle feeding him apple slices when I heard groaning from the bedroom.

He let out a quick squeak before speeding off. I followed my familiar until we reached the bedroom to find him squirming by the bed. Craig carefully scooped up the small creature and snuggled him close. He has finally settled down in his arms.

"I can see who you like better. Ngh." I tried to supress a tick. "You little traitor." I teased them both gently. I took a seat beside the sleepy siren. Craig grumbled something about being too tired and wanting to stay in bed forever, while Striped purred contently.  “I’m amazed he likes you so much, he doesn’t even let Token and Clyde touch him” I pointed out.

“I’m p…pretty amazing like that."  Craig murmured lazily, slurring his words. I found myself chuckling lightly before returning to comfortable silence. Craig didn’t go back to sleep but he didn’t seem to be putting any effort into waking up either. He nestled deep into the blankets, surrounded by warmth.

The door creaked open and my dad poked his head in. His eyes were still red from all the fumes he drugged himself with. I felt Craig shift in the bed behind me before feeling a hand clench my shirt. He seemed scared.

“Morning dad."  I watched my dad’s eyes flicker between me and the siren behind me. I could tell he was trying to process what he was seeing. Thankfully Craig looked human enough at a quick glance.

“Who’s that, son?” He spoke slowly, still high from the fumes. Craig started pressing his face against my back, intimidated by the tall witch. I could hear Stripe whining while trying to comfort the siren but I had to keep my sights on my father. I didn't want him to suspect anything.

“He’s from a nearby island dad. He swam over when he spotted our boat." My acting skills were natural enough to trick my dad. He was clearly too high to think about the fact they were miles away from any land.

“Alright son. Don’t cause any trouble." With that my dad left us alone. When the door clicked shut, Craig let out a sigh of relief, now wide awake. He wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his head on my shoulder slightly trembling.

“He’s really tall."  Craig’s voice was muffled against my shirt. He slowly stopped shaking enough that he could let go of my waist and sit up.

“He’s tall because he’s an adult, he’s pretty average in height compared to the other parents." I said before getting up, I offered my hand to the siren who took it with his eyes lighting up.

“Are you going to be that tall when you’re older?” Again Craig struggled to stay standing as we slowly made our way back outside. We had to squint when the bright summer sunlight hit our eyes.

“I’m not sure, I know my mom’s side aren’t tall." Once we were at the deck I held Craig at arm’s length. His legs trembled beneath him as he clung desperately to my hands. “How about you? Do you think you’ll grow that tall?” I was hoping that distracting him would help.

“I-I never saw my d-dad and I don’t r-remember what my mom looked like” He struggled to speak while concentrating on standing. I came up with a great idea.

“Gah! I’m going to let go, Craig." I was about to let go when Craig tightened his hold on my hands as he went into a panic.

“Wait Tweek!" He pleaded as I managed to pull myself from the siren’s iron grip. His legs were shaking like a well-made soufflé. “Tweek!” He reached for me again.

“Come closer, I’ll let you grab onto my hands if you walk over here." I took a few steps back. I saw Stripe looking at me with judging eyes. “What? I’m just trying to help plus it’s kinda funny”

Craig did not look amused as he finally managed to steady his legs. “Ha ha. Very funny."  He spat sarcastically. He took his first step towards me and his legs buckled under the weight slightly but he managed to stay up with pure determination. “I’m going to punch you when I get to you." He struggled with the second step but he steadied himself much faster. He shifted his weight between his two legs before charging towards me.

I didn’t have time to react as I got knocked down yelping as I hit the ground. “Jerk!” Craig shouted as he punched my arm jokingly. He pushed himself up and offered me a hand, he still wobbled a bit when I used him to pull myself up but he was confident enough to walk around on his own. “This is weird and very slow”

“I’m impressed that you learnt so fast” I watched as the siren paced around the deck with renewed vigour. “Also not all of us have tails to help us swim” I teased him.

“Do you at least know how to swim without one?” Craig stopped jogging around and walked back to me.

I laughed nervously, “No, not really” Craig eyes became starry as he rushed over to the edge of the boat and beckoned me over. I knew I wasn’t going to get out of it after forcing him to walk around. “Let me put on my swimming trunks” I told him.

I left to get changed and when I returned I saw a neat pile of clothes resting on the ground while Craig was in the ocean with his tail out. I sat at the edge of the boat, letting me legs soak while I observed the siren. He moved more elegantly in the water than he ever could on land. I smiled when he dipped his head into the water, his hair still reminded me of seaweed.

Craig finally noticed that I returned and made his way over to me, he glided so smoothly , not even a single splash. "Come in." He sounded more confident now.

“I’ll sink!" I looked down past the siren to see the deep blue ocean with no bottom in sight. “What if I drown?” I asked him trying to mask my nervousness.

“I’ll hold your hand and unlike you, I won’t let go." He promised as I held onto his hands and he helped lower me into the water. My mind started to go into a panic thinking about the deep water under us, Craig noticed this so he tried to calm me down, “Take deep breaths, you won’t drown with me holding onto you” He sounded so gentle.

After an hour of just breathing and floating around with the siren, I beamed up at him, “I can’t believe I did it. I thought I was going to have a panic attack but I didn’t.” I told him as Craig flashed his teeth back at me in a smile. He let go of one of my hands to brush some hair out of his face, I let go of his other hand so I could float on my own. “This is really calming” I looked up at the mid afternoon sun.

“I do that sometimes when I want to think.” Craig took this opportunity to swim around me while I floated on my back, afternoon sky above us. The siren hummed to himself, it wasn’t like any song I’ve ever heard.

“What do you think about?” I asked as he swam close. He was still circling me so I reached out and ran my hand across his tail, surprisingly it wasn’t slimy like a fish’s one. Craig stopped his song to hum in thought.

“I don’t think about much. Stuff like what I want to eat or where I’ll swim for the day but sometimes I work on my song. We sirens live simple lives unlike you land dwellers. All I need to think about is eating and not dying” Craig eventually stopped to float next to me. We both made sure to keep an eye on the boat.

“I think I’d die from boredom, staying on this boat every year for a single week on my own is bad enough” I held onto Craig’s hand so we wouldn’t drift apart.

He hummed in thought again, “The life of a siren isn’t for everyone. I love it though, it’s simple and I wouldn’t want it any other way.” Craig looked at me with his star filled eyes just to show that he really meant his words.

“Teach me how to swim." I looked over at him, while he looked back in rising amusement at my words.

“I thought I was doing that already. I guess this isn’t enough for you” he spoke with a mischievous grin.  He let go of my hand and started to order me around. “Turn around, you should learn how to swim forward” He told me.

I let out a groan, “Hate to break it to you Craig but the most I can do is float on my back.” Craig however was a stubborn siren. I was going to learn to swim whether I wanted to or not.

I can’t say I was quite as fast of a learner as he was but he was also a terrible teacher. Unlike a certain siren I needed to breathe air and he didn’t seem to know how to teach me the proper way to keep my head up and out of the ocean, so I ended up with water up my nose.

We ended our swimming lesson when it started to get late, the sun starting to set. Stripe was happy to see us climbing back onto the boat, his chirping was bright and cheery. Craig stroked his head which earned him angry screeching from the small creature, the siren looked up at me in worry. “Your hands are wet” I reminded him.

“Sorry.” I heard him say, I’ve never heard anyone talk to my familiar with such a sincere tone. I dried myself off, then I put on my clothes before turning back to the siren who was struggling to put his own over his damp skin. I let him take his time while I pet my guinea pig.

Craig made sure that every scale was covered before heading inside with me. I walked into the kitchen and pulled out a secret package from the fridge, Craig eyed me curiously as he took a seat at the table. I opened the package to reveal the ingredients that I snuck onto the boat, it was just enough for a small cake.

“Can you eat all of that?” He asked as he poked the bag of flour. I pulled the bag away from the curious siren, I couldn’t have him spilling these valuable ingredients.

“It’s not a good idea to eat them on their own but I packed exactly what I need for a small cake” I started to mix the ingredients instead of waiting for the siren to respond. I cooked this cake so many times that the recipe was burned into my mind.

“What’s a cake?” Craig eventually asked while watching my hands closely.

“You’ll see when I’m done, won’t you."  I stated. Mixing carried on in silence, neither of us felt the need to say anything else. Once I placed the mixture into the microwave, since we didn’t have an oven, I joined Craig at the table. He broke our silence by humming to himself, the serene quiet was nice but Craig’s soft melody was even better.

I mindlessly stroked Stripe’s head while Craig fiddled with his hair with mild amusement as his song lulled us into a calm state. We both jumped when my alarm went off, I rushed over to turn it off. I poked the cake with a toothpick to test if it was cooked all the way before carrying it to the table.

Craig observed it as if he was looking at some kind of alien technology, he scoffed at it. “This looks gross. why is it hot?” He asked me. It was endearing how little he knew about my world.

“Cakes are meant to be hot” I cut a slice for both me and Craig. I watched him while taking a bite of the still hot cake. The siren didn’t even try to use the spoon I provided for him, he opted to pulling a chunk off with his hands. He took an experimental bite before spitting out, wincing while he held his tongue out.

“It’s too hot! How can you eat something that hot?” He complained as he pouted. It made sense since they were in the middle of the ocean, there weren’t any fires, they don’t cook their food. Sirens probably had tongues like a cat’s, sensitive to heat. I poked his cake just to check, quite warm but fine enough for any human to comfortably eat. The problem was, he wasn't human though.

“Let’s wait for it to cool down then” Craig made a face at that. Stripe entertained us while we waited, he playfully nibbled at Craig's fingers while they killed time. Most of his attention was set on the siren, it was nice seeing him interacting with someone other than me.

I poked at the cake until it was cool, then I pushed the plate towards Craig. He jabbed at it too, it was cold enough to eat but he was apprehensive about it. “I think you’ll like it, it's plain and boring." Craig glared at me in response.

“Real funny” He took a new pinch of cake and tried a nibble. I nearly fell off my chair from his reaction, his eyes lit up but his faced stayed straight. His face went red from seeing my reaction, I was clenching one hand and slapping the table with the other. It took everything I had to not laugh. “It’s… What’s the word I’m looking for…?” He looked deep in thought at the importance of describing this cake.

“Sweet?” I snickered. Craig shoved me, this time I _did_ fall out of my chair. Luckily, I managed to grab the side of the table to keep myself from falling on my ass. We both glanced at each other, Craig looked shocked and I was probably mirroring his expression. “I guess I deserved that” He rolled his eyes and carried on eating his cake.

We stopped when we heard someone walk into the room, it was my mom. Craig was intimidated at first but put on a brave face and puffed up his chest slightly. What a champ, I could see his hands shaking. My mom didn’t react much to the siren, she just walked up to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“Hey tiger, we’re heading home tomorrow evening. You should tell your new friend to head home before we leave” I blinked at her words. Dad must have told her my stupid lie and she never bothered to check whether we were near any land at all. That was the best part of having parents who were too distracted to care about what I was doing most of the time.

“Isn’t it too early to be going home, don’t we have an extra day at least?” We don’t normally head home this early.

“We need to open the shop earlier than normal” Since she said her piece, she grabbed some food and headed back to her room. She didn’t give me time to react.

“So, you’re leaving tomorrow?” The siren asked. I felt guilty and I didn’t know why. “Let’s go to sleep. I finished my cake” He got up and left the room without another word.

He waited on my bed while I got ready, Stripe was snuggled against his dark hair. He was already half asleep when I slipped in next to him. We couldn’t cuddle so I settled for resting my head on his shoulder.

When I woke up the next morning, Craig was already awake playing with Stripe. He didn't realise that I was awake yet, I poked him in the side which caused him to let out a startled squeak. Stripe didn't reaction, he just looked up at me with his beady eyes, unimpressed. I wish he wouldn't keep judging me.

“You scared me” He whined. He looked over at me with a sad smile. “This is our last day together?”

“It is, so let’s make the most out of it” I pulled Craig up. His legs worked perfectly now, well he was slightly weak kneed, but they functioned fine enough. We decided to have a quick breakfast, the only food we had left were turkey sandwiches, so those nasty things would have to make due.

“What are we doing?” his voice was muffled by the food he was eating, I decided not to comment out of politeness.

“I want to show you something. Something you can do with your legs” I tapped my legs impatiently. Once he was finished I forced him outside. He didn’t mind being pulled around the boat. “I took some dance lessons before coming on this trip. I want to try out what I learnt” I told him.

“Dancing? I think I’ve heard of the word, but I don’t know what it is. It’s probably one of those memories lost over time after going from parent to child so many times” After his explanation, he looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to elaborate.

“Sing a song and then we can dance to it” I said before taking both of his hands in mine. They’re so small, just like mine. A little bony but still soft.

He smirked confidently at me. “You’re lucky that I finished _My Song_ ” He proudly announced. He cleared his throat the best he could. He started off with a light humming, just like he had before. I pulled at his arm lightly so he could start moving to the beat with me.

“Step forward with your left then right leg” He followed the instructions without breaking the melody. His voice projected perfectly, like we were listening to a prerecord stereo. No human singer could compete with just the siren’s simple humming.

Once we finally found our rhythm, he opened his mouth and started to sing. I know he told me that he wasn’t old enough to have magic in his voice but I felt like I was being enchanted. The sounds that came out his mouth weren’t human, far too beautiful and far too elegant. It overshadowed any other sound, I couldn’t hear the ocean smashing against the boat, I couldn’t even hear our feet hitting the ground.

His eyes reached their brightest point while we danced, perfect night skies staring back at me. I could see why they perceived as dangerous, sirens were incredibly alluring creatures but the one that stood before me was kinder than any person I’ve ever met. Something about him made my chest feel warm and bubble with joy. I think I was starting to develop a crush on him.

It felt like it was just us two, I forgot that we were on the boat. It was amazing to just look into his beautiful galaxy eyes as we swayed perfectly in time together. “It’s time to go kiddo” The illusion was shattered by my mother's voice. Craig immediately went silent. I noticed that it was already the late afternoon, the sky starting to tint with shades of pink and orange.

“It looks like you need to go” Without warning Craig pulled off all his clothes. He pushed himself back into the water. I rushed over to the edge of the boat with Stripe following closely behind. Craig already had his tail reformed.

“I’m coming back next year, you should visit me again."  I offered him. He beamed back up at me.

“Really?” He chuckled. He swam closer so he could hold onto the ledge of the boat. I nodded in response. “Let’s make it a promise then” He looked up at me hopeful.

We locked our pinkies together. We both smiled at the silliness of it all. Once we separated our fingers, he pushed himself from the ledge and dived back into the water. “See you next year!” I shouted.

The rest of the year drifted by uneventfully, I was excited to see my siren friend again. My parents and I planned the date for our trip, I tried to match it as closely as I could to the year before. I was packing my things when my mother walked into the room.

“Darling, why are bringing those?” She picked up a piece of clothing, I couldn’t see what she was holding “We aren’t going sailing this year” She showed me my swimming trunks.

“Why not?” I asked trying to mask the disappointment in my voice.

“We sold the boat” she answered. It was like my parents to not tell me something like this, at least they were consistent.

I didn’t see Craig that year or the next year or the year after that. I had no way to get to him. As soon as I could work, I did. It was hard to raise the money for a boat and even when I did, my parents couldn’t remember the spot we used to sail. Even after ten years, I couldn’t find him. My first love. It made my heart ache because during all those years, I knew somewhere out there, was a Siren. Alone at Sea.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading this one shot. It is intended to be a prologue to see if people would be interested in a sequel. The sequel will be quite a lot more darker but just as fluff filled. 
> 
> Leave me a comment on what you thought and if you all would be interested in a sequel!


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